The invention relates in general to military tanks and in particular to apparatus and methods for upgrading the main gun on a military tank.
The U.S. M60 series main battle tank includes a 105 mm main gun with a rifled barrel. There is a desire to upgrade the main gun on the M60 to a 120 mm gun with a smooth bore barrel. The main gun upgrade improves the lethality of the M60 series tanks. The 120 mm gun, such as the M256 120 mm smooth bore gun, will not fit in the existing shield casting for the M68 105 mm gun.
One method of upgrading the M60 to a 120 mm gun is to completely replace the turret with an M1A1 Abrams turret. This method involves a complete replacement of every component of the tank above the hull of the main battle tank. The new components include the M256 120 mm smooth bore gun, fire control, thermal sights, ammunition storage and suspension.
Another method of upgrading the M60 to a 120 mm gun includes installing an Israeli Military Industries (IMI) 120 mm smooth bore gun into an up-armored, existing M60 turret, as well as upgrading the engine, armor and chassis of the tank.
A third method includes modifying the existing M60A3 shield casting, which is the interface between the gun system and the turret. This method includes boring out the shield casting to accept the larger 120 mm M256 gun.
The known methods of upgrading the M60 to a 120 mm gun require extensive changes and expense. A need exists for a less complicated and less expensive apparatus and method for upgrading the M60 tank to a 120 mm gun.